Ball-bearing vehicle-hub



(No Model.)

O. M. ANDREWS. BALL BEARING VEHICLE HUB.

No. 584,838. Patented June 22. 1897.

ilmmm J72 D872 Z07 c/zaz-zes mndrews.

Witnesses w a W TO umu. wASnmn'rnN, a c

llsrrrnn STATES Parent @rrrcn.

CHARLES M. ANDREWS, OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA.

.BALL-BEARING VEHICLE-HUB.

I SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 584,838, dated J une22, 1897'.

Application filed $eptember 14, 1896. Serial No. 605 688. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Beitknown that 1, CHARLES M. ANDREWS, a citizen of the United States,residing at South Bend, in the county of St. Joseph, State of Indiana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ball-BearingVehicle- IIubs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to ball-bearing vehicle-hubs which are applicableto either awood or iron center.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, strong, easily-adjustable, and durable device, with a minimum frictional resistance, whichmay be advantageously employed in connection with an axle shaped to suitthe requirements for strength, the latter being made without reducing orfinishing the end thereof to form a spindle, thus insuring greaterstrength and economy in its manufacture.

The invention consists in certain constructions and combinations ofparts hereinafter particularly described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation ofone end of the axle with the metal hub and ballbearing device insection; Fig. 2, an elevation or face View of the said metal hub; Fig.3, an elevation showing the inner face of one of the revolubleball-bearing plates, to be attached to the hub center with the axle insection, and Fig. 4 a view similar to Fig. 3 of one of the fixedball-bearing plates attached to the axle.

The axle A is preferably made of a square bar of steel withslightly-rounded corners and with the ends a turned down and threaded toreceive a nut B and drilled and tapped to receive a set-screw O, whichmay be adjusted to limit the adjustment of the nut upon the ball-bearingplates without binding them too closely upon the balls. A collar D,secured to the axle on the inner side of the hub, forms a stop.

An inner fixed ball-bearing plate E and a similar outer fixedbearing-plate E are fitted upon the square axle respectively to bearagainst the collar D and against the inner face of the nut B and areeach provided upon their inner and opposed faces with a ball-raceway 6to receive hard-metal balls F, which run freely within the said raceway.The hub center G has revoluble ballbearing plates H H, secured,respectively, to the outer and inner faces thereof by bolts g, passingthrough said plates and screwing into the hub center, and the plates areeach provided with a ballraceway h, which oppose the ball-raceway e ofthe plate E and the plate E, and thus hold between them the balls F,which latter thus sustain the wheel-hub upon the axle to revolve freelythereon, the centers of the hub center and revoluble bearingplates H Hbein g provided, respectively, with enlarged cen tral apertures g and hto give sufficient clearance for this purpose.

The hubcenter is made of metal, as shown in the drawings, and has afollower plate G, secured to the inner flange of the flange-plate gthereof by bolts I, which pass through said follower plate andflange-plate and also pass either through the spokes K or between themto secure the hubrenter sections and spokes together.

The revoluble ball-bearing plates H Ill are, as shown in the drawings,Fig. 1, provided each with a flange h to project around the periphery ofthe fixed ball-bearing plates E E, respectively, and serve to protectthe faces and raceway of the ball-bearing plates from mud or dust, andare also provided with inner hubs h to fit within recesses of the hubcenters and relieve the bolts g of undue strain.

WVith the several parts constructed and combined as above described aball-bearing may be provided for vehicle-wheels which will run lightlyat high speed without the use of lubricants and will outwear any otherpart of the vehicle. The axle being made of barsteel without reducing orfitting the end with a spindle will greatly reduce the weight and costof construction, and being perfectly homogeneous will possess greaterstrength than axles ordinarily employed. The halls of the hearing aresupported in such position relatively to the center of the load borne bythem that no und ue strain is brought upon the axle and that they willresist and take up the end as well as the vertical pressures to whichthe bearing is subjected.

The special form and construction of the journal-collars and hubface-plates provided with the ball-bearing raceways which will admit ofeasy application to and removal from the axle and hub, respectively, isa valuable and distinguishing feature of my invention, as not only do Isecure thereby a strong, coinpact, and dust-covered hub-boxing, but theballs are supported upon steel bearings of sufiicient area which are notliable to become broken and Which, if broken, may be replaced at muchless expense and with greater convenience than would be the case werethe axle broken.

Iclairn as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent Aball-bearing for vehicle Wheels, comprising a square bar-axle, having areduced threaded end, a nut fitted thereon, a collar secured thereto atthe inner side of the hub, an inner grooved fixed ball-bearing plate toabut against said collar, an outer ball-bearing plate to bear againstthe said nut, a hub having grooved face-plates to oppose the saidball-bearing plates, and balls in said grooves and bolts for securingthe ball-bearin g plates in position, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

CHARLES M. ANDREIVS.

Vitnesses:

B. KRUEPER, C. H. ZABITO.

